


Nine Lives

by the_quiet_winds



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: AU after season 3, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Emotional, Family, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Lena is a cool aunt, Not Much Romance, maybe if you squint, some language
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-24
Updated: 2018-11-30
Packaged: 2019-08-28 12:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16723317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_quiet_winds/pseuds/the_quiet_winds
Summary: All Hell had broken loose. The company was flat lining.L Corp is absolutely finished.But Lena Luthor is about to learn that there is a lot more in her life to be worried about.





	1. Downfall

All Hell had broken loose. The company was flat lining.

The job had fallen apart. Employees were scrambling to reassemble the fragments of the biggest job of the year, as they had been for three days now.

Many large corporations have the problem of disconnected leaders, but everyone at L Corp knew it was a different story. In those three days since the new project had collapsed, Lena Luthor had gotten maybe four total hours of sleep. Those naps on her office couch were only brought upon at the insistence of Samantha Arias, chief financial officer and close personal friend of Lena. Sam would enter the office at six, maybe seven in the morning and find her boss in a semi-coherent state, fueled by caffeine and flipping haphazardly through documents. Lena would fight vehemently to stay at her desk, but Sam would all but force her to the couch for a fitful nap.

L Corp had devoted the last eight months to the development of new car technology, able to not only drive the car using GPS location and satellites, but also understand human voice control and recognition. The car could be set to only operate when certain people said the password, to prevent theft and accidental ignition by minors. The technology had been set to sell to BMW on May 31st. On May 27th, however, a major design flaw had crippled and destroyed the hope of the sale happening. The scientists were scrambling to redesign as fast as possible, the marketing and business departments working in strong tandem to renegotiate the terms of the deal with BMW, who refused to budge. A few of the marketers began to quietly search for new investors.

Sam Arias entered L Corp at six-thirty on the morning the sale should have happened, expecting to see people flying past her and yelling about this or that, but the lobby of the building was deathly silent. Not even the doorman was waiting for her. She swiped her card and stepped into the empty elevator, headed straight for the top floor. When she got there, the doors to Lena’s office were shut and Jess’s desk was vacant and clean, as if no one had ever worked there to begin with. Hesitantly, Sam opened the door. Lena was not at her desk but on the balcony, watching the sun rise over the National City heights. Her workspace, too, was clean and empty. Sam walked through the office and stood beside her boss.

“We’re ruined,” Lena said, without even turning to look at her companion. Her voice was emotionless, hollow. “BMW ended the deal. We’ve lost millions. L Corp is dead.”

“There has to be something we can do,” Sam pleaded.

“No one else wants to take it. We’ve become unreliable.” Sam could feel the grief in Lena’s words. L Corp was the most important thing in her life, and it failed. Lena failed it. Her company was six feet under. There was nothing left to do.

“Maybe we could- “

“No, Sam,” Lena cut in sharply. “We have nothing left to give.”

Sam narrowed her eyes and studied Lena’s profile. “This isn’t like you, Lena. You don’t just give up on something like this.”

Lena barked a mirthless laugh, finally turning to look at her friend. “What do you not understand Sam? There’s nothing left. We’re out millions, no jobs to recover the money.” She paused. “Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Sam shook her head. “Don’t say that- “

“Maybe L Corp is meant to be remembered as Lex’s big success and my big failure.” Lena laughed, releasing that same strangled sound as before. “See what happens when a Luthor tries to do something good?”

“Lena, you know you are more than this.”

“What am I, Sam?” Lena demanded with venom.

“You are the smartest and most badass woman I know, and I know Supergirl.” Lena didn’t look impressed.

Sam could sense that Lena really didn’t want a pep talk, so she turned off the motivation and turned on the sympathy. Before Lena could react, Sam grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in for the tightest hug of her life. She felt her boss stiffen but didn’t let go. Lena released her inhibitions and sank into the embrace, four days of emotional rollercoasters finally breaking the young CEO.

Sam, especially in the last two years, had experienced terrifying things. She had a savage Kryptonian controlling her body, slaughtering people without any repentance. She had to have Alex hide Ruby, her own daughter, from her to keep her safe. But, if Sam was being quite honest, having the stone-cold Lena Luthor sobbing into her jacket had to be in the top five scariest moments of her life. There was absolutely nothing she could do but rub her back and whisper sweet nothings into the warm morning air. They stayed that way, on that balcony, for hours. Well, it felt like hours. It was more like a half hour, Sam was surprised to find. Once Lena had calmed, Sam led her back inside. They sat down on the couch and stared at nothing, silence filling the room, save for Lena’s occasional sniffles.

After a few more minutes of silence, Sam spoke again. “So…what now?”

Lena hesitated. “I sell the company.” Sam was expecting a lot of things, but certainly not that. “Don’t worry,” Lena hastily added, “I’ll make sure you can keep your position. Nothing will change.”

“Except I won’t have my best friend as my boss,” Sam added softly. She could’ve sworn she saw Lena smile, just for a fraction of a second.

“I guess you won’t.”

They continued to mull over the options of how to salvage the wreckage of L Corp for the remainder of the morning. Luckily, they had managed to keep the company’s fall from grace under relatively solid wrap. Lena’s stock investors were still stable, no slander was gracing the television screen, and no one outside of the company knew of the blunder, except for the people at BMW. Lena, however, had managed to get them to agree to keep it quiet, even as they dropped the deal.

“Come on,” Sam said, finally standing up from the couch. “We are going to lunch.”

“I’m not too hungry, but thank you.” Sam wasn’t about to take ‘no’ for an answer. “We’re going.” She grabbed Lena’s hand and pulled her up. “I know you haven’t eaten since I brought you that granola bar yesterday afternoon.”

“And you know this how?” Sam raised an eyebrow. Lena relented. “Fine.”

They left the silent building and entered the messy streets of National City. Sam had insisted that they walk to the restaurant. “Fresh air is good for you,” she had said.

As they waited for a crosswalk sign, Sam turned back to look at the imposing structure of L Corp. It was eerie, knowing there was absolutely no one there. “Where was everyone?” She asked herself.

“I told them not to come in,” Lena responded, causing Sam to jump. She hadn’t realized she had spoken aloud. “They killed the deal early this morning, so I called all the department heads.”

Sam hummed in affirmation as they began to cross the busy street. They arrived at Noonan’s and sat down, sitting in companionable silence until the waitress arrived and took their order.

“I still can’t believe it,” Lena mused. “Eight months of work...for nothing.” She paused and sighed. “Well, not for nothing.” Another odd laugh. “It managed to screw us over.” Sam really didn’t know what to say, so she said nothing, letting Lena empty her busy and cluttered mind. For five minutes, Sam counted, Lena rambled on and off about the failed deal and the fated doom of L Corp. Even when the waitress brought their food, Lena continued to vent and flick lettuce with her fork. At Sam’s insistence, she paused for long enough to take a few meager bites, but continued to say she had no appetite. Sam couldn’t blame her. She could barely stomach her grilled cheese, but it looked like Lena didn’t eat at all. “Stress, Sam, you know that,” Lena had lamented.

Lena, Sam noticed, had finally stopped her rant, but was still sitting silently, swirling her water and ice with the straw and looking blankly at the table. “Lena?”

“I’m sorry, Sam.”

“For what?”

“I let you down,” Lena said with a tenderness Sam had rarely ever seen. “I let everyone down.”

“No. Don’t even start with that,” Sam answered. Her ‘mom’ voice was breaking out, the same one she used on Ruby semi-frequently.

“But Sam- “

“No, Lena. You did nothing wrong. You had no control over what happened in the labs.”

“If I had been there- “

“Everything would have come out the same,” Sam declared as a definitive end to the conversation. Well, almost definitive. She reached out and laid a hand on top of Lena’s. “You did everything you possibly could.”

Lena nodded absently but spoke no more.

                                                                                                                                                                ***

Sam heard a banging on her front door at three o’clock the next morning and it scared the wits out of her. At first, she ignored it, thinking it was just her drunken neighbor mistaking the houses again. Then it continued. It was urgent, forceful pounding. Her blood began to pump as she rose from the bed. Had something happened? Was someone in trouble? She passed by Ruby’s room. The fourteen-year-old was peacefully sleeping, and Sam felt her shoulders drop slightly in relief. The knocking continued. Hesitantly, Sam made her way down the stairs. She had to stop herself from grabbing a bat or a knife as she approached the door. She mumbled a quick prayer to whoever was listening and opened the door.

It was Lena.

“Lena? What are you doing here?”

Lena’s smile was visible even in the near darkness, manic and sleep-deprived. “I just got off the phone with BMW. We’re back in business.”


	2. Salvation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ruby is involved.

It had been a rough night. Lena had downed three glasses of wine in the last two hours. She was sitting in the armchair in her bedroom, the only light coming from the ambiance of the city. Her head was reeling, and it wasn’t from the alcohol. The events of the last four days played over and over in her head, taunting and nagging her from the base of skull, persisting in the form of the dull throb that she had dealt in silence.

It was the lack of food, she assumed.

As she stood to refill her glass, she suddenly stopped. Lena had made a terrible realization.

_Sam._

She nearly dropped the glass. Lena had promised Sam an equal position when she sold the company. It was at this moment when Lena realized that was an impossible promise. Sam would most likely be fired, or at the very least quietly demoted, as soon as the deal happened.

Sam, who had surpassed Lena in their economics and business classes at National City University.

Sam, who had fought and overcame an evil Kryptonian using her body to try to destroy Earth.

Sam, who had cared for Lena during the collapse of her company, without even the slightest hesitation.

Lena pressed the glass to the bedside table and weakly fell to the bed. Her head was spinning, and her muscles were limp. This can’t be happening. L Corp was supposed to be Lena’s salvation, her ticket out of the legacy she didn’t want. Instead, it would go down as her great failure, and would be the cause of her dear friend’s impending economic downfall.

Lena laid back on the bed, feeling the tears welling in her eyes. She fought in vain to keep them back.

The phone rang. At two in the morning. The phone was ringing.

She grabbed her cell off the table and looked blearily at the bright screen.

_‘Stefan Fischer is calling…’_

Lena nearly dropped the phone. Mister Fischer was the representative from BMW. Might it be? She cleared her throat, mentally brushed off her German, and answered the phone.

“Hallo? Herr Fischer?”

The conversation only lasted about five minutes, but they were the best five minutes of Lena’s life.

BMW and renewed the deal. L Corp might survive. ‘Might,’ she reminded herself.

A second chance. She was getting a second chance. She had to tell Sam. Terrance, her driver, was home, sleeping, and she didn’t feel like waking him, but she didn’t feel quite safe walking the streets at two-thirty in the morning (how is it already this late?), so she left her apartment building and hopped on the night bus. She rode alone to the suburbs, the bus driver being kind enough to take her straight to her destination. Lena flipped him a twenty and told him to keep the change before rushing off.

The house, as well as every other on the block, was dark. If it hadn’t been for all the excitement, Lena would have felt absolutely terrible bursting in at three in the morning.

 _‘This is for Sam,’_ she told herself, walking up to the doorstep. She banged on the door.

Nothing.

She knocked again, more forceful this time. Just as she was about to do it once more, she heard the lock pins shift and the door open, revealing Sam, still in her pajamas. \

“Lena? What are you doing here?” Lena smiled at her friend.

“I just got off the phone with BMW. We’re back in business.” She nearly laughed at the sleepy, not-quite-understanding expression on Sam’s face. It was obvious it took her about three seconds to fully comprehend what Lena said, before she lit up like a Christmas tree, dragged Lena inside, closed the door, and pulled her into a bear hug.

Sam pulled away, holding Lena at arm’s length.

“How? What…? When?”

Lena laughed at her friend’s questioning. “I’ll explain everything.”

They then found themselves sitting at the counter in Sam’s kitchen, a mug of ginger tea for Lena and coffee for Sam, talking quietly in the low light.

“We have another two months to finalize and sell,” Lena said excitedly, her voice still hushed. “This could save us.”

“Will two months be enough?” Sam asked.

Lena paused, then nodded hesitantly. “It should be, I’ll be there making sure everything runs smoothly. The tech department says they found the source of error-“

“Aunt Lena?”

Both women turned towards the voice. A shadowed figure stood at the base of the stairs, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

“Ruby, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Lena rose to her feet, not expecting the fourteen-year-old to fling herself into her embrace. Without hesitation, Ruby felt slim arms around her shoulders and smiled tiredly into Lena’s jacket.

“It’s alright,” Ruby said lightly. “I wouldn’t want to miss any action.”

Sam tutted lightly, then chuckled. “There’s no action that you’re missing, kiddo. Head back up to bed.”

Ruby shook her head. “Aunt Lena wouldn’t be here if it were nothing.” She suddenly gasped and gripped Lena’s forearms tightly. “Did you figure it out?”

‘It’ referred to Ruby’s not-so-secret wishes to turn her mom Kryptonian again. “Only the good parts, with the powers,” she would amend to Lena, who would always frown at the requests for research.

“No, Ruby, I didn’t,” Lena said, almost apologetically.

“Oh.” The girl looked at the floor in disappointment.

“But,” Sam said, grabbing her daughter’s attention, “She does bring some pretty awesome news.” Lena carefully studied Ruby’s face as she processed the information. Her eyes absolutely lit up, all remnants of sleep falling victim to pure rapture. They sought Lena and stared at her expectantly, and Lena felt her heart melt at the sight. She took Ruby’s hands.

“Your mom is about to make a lot of money,” Lena whispered, as if sharing a great secret.

Ruby, ever the child, smiled so brightly and rushed over to Sam, launching herself at the sleepy woman. Sam, on instinct, caught her in her arms.

“If this works out, I’m taking you on a vacation,” Sam mumbled into Ruby’s hair. “Anywhere you want to go, we’ll go.”

“Washington D.C.? Ooh, or Québec? What about Ireland?” Ruby was so excited that there was no way she was going to sleep again.

Lena stood nearby and watched. ‘If,’ Sam had been sure to say. If this works out. If the deal still brings in the large profit. If Lena doesn’t fail again.

“Well, I should be off,” she finally said. Sam’s head whipped towards her so fast, Lena thought she would hear it snap.

“Lena. It is three-thirty in the morning. I’m not letting you go home,” Sam deadpanned.

“I’m with Mom, Aunt Lena,” Ruby added quietly. “You look like you really need some sleep.”

Lena raised a self-conscious hand to her cheek, wondering how deep and heavy the bags under her eyes were, even in the dimly lit room.

“I can’t very well sleep in this,” Lena protested, gesturing to her work dress and heavy jacket. “And besides, I really don’t want to intrude.”

“Nonsense.” Sam waved away the notion. “You’re always welcome here.”

Lena finally relented, and Sam sent Ruby upstairs to fetch something more comfortable for her to sleep in.

“I hope she doesn’t get her hopes up,” Lena mused, regarded the stairs Ruby had just climbed. “I don’t want her getting hurt if this fails again.” _If I fail again._

Sam placed a hand on her shoulder, looking in the same direction. “She won’t get hurt, because this won’t fail.” Lena reached up and squeezed Sam’s hand.

Ruby hopped down the steps the next heartbeat, clothes and blankets spilling from her arms. Sam and Ruby prepared a makeshift bed on the couch while Lena went to change. Her stoic and cold exterior melted away as lipstick and mascara were wiped away and dark hair was freed to tumble down her back. She pulled on one of Sam’s National City University t-shirts and a pair of black sweats. She smiled as she noticed that Ruby had included a pair of orange fuzzy socks in the deal. Fully dressed, she looked in the mirror. Ruby was right, she looked awful. She looked tired. Her arms were thinner. Turning to the side, she noticed that her stomach looked smaller, her chest slightly narrower. In all the chaos of the deal failure, she hadn’t eaten enough. Her face was pale, dark bags under her eyes. Shaking off these thoughts, she ran a hand through her hair, adjusted her shirt, and turned off the light.

When she returned to the living room, Ruby was leaning against Sam, sleepiness beginning to take hold again. Upon seeing Lena, Ruby lurched towards her automatically and wrapped her arms around her.

“Night Aunt Lena,” she murmured tiredly. Lena chuckled and placed a kiss on Ruby’s hairline.

“Goodnight, love.”

With a final drowsy smile at her mother, Ruby slowly ascended the stairs. Sam and Lena watched her go, then turned back to each other.

“Thank you for letting me stay, Sam,” Lena said, carefully peeling back the blankets and getting situated underneath.

“Anytime Lena, though I should warn you.” Lena raised an inquisitive eyebrow. “Saturday is pancake day, Ruby will probably be up pretty early.”

Lena smirked and leaned on her elbow. “I’d be surprised if she was, seeing as it’s already almost four in the morning.” It was Sam’s turn to be caught off-guard (again) and she turned to the bright blue numbers from the oven light. It was three forty-seven. Sam looked back to her friend, realizing that they both should follow Ruby’s example and get some sleep.

“’Night Lena.”

“See you in the morning, Sam,” Lena answered. She watched as Sam retreated into the shadowy staircase. The muscles in her arm suddenly gave out and her body sunk into the couch. She pulled the soft blankets up to her chin and settled into the pillow. As she stared into the dark ceiling, her mind began to wander. Again.

 _‘No,’_ she chided herself. _‘No more thinking. Sleep.’_

That was much easier said than done, however. Lena managed to doze off somewhere around six, and had gotten maybe three hours of sleep when she was awoken.

Sam had been correct. Ruby _really_ wanted those pancakes. The girl had practically pounced on the CEO as soon as Sam allowed it. She had honestly tried to stall for her friend’s sake for as long as possible, but when Ruby gives the pouty eyes and pokes her lip out _just right_ , Sam’s businesswoman resolve turns to butter.

“Wake up, sleepyhead!”

Lena registered the weight on her abdomen and hazily opened her eyes. A bright smile was the first thing she noticed, followed by sleep-mangled hair and all-too-familiar hazel irises. Lena sat up, not quite expecting Ruby to instantly tuck herself under an arm that was mid-stretch.

“Good morning to you too, sweetheart.” Lena gently stroked Ruby’s upper arm with lazy fingers. The smell of bacon and coffee wafted to her nose, and an almost foreign sense of hunger settled in her stomach.

“Hope you’re hungry, Lena.” Sam’s voice carried through the kitchen, almost reading Lena’s mind. She flipped a pancake and turned around, spatula in hand. “My pancakes are famous in this house.”

Ruby tugged her over to the kitchen island. Sam set two plates of food down, followed by a glass of orange juice for one and coffee for the other. Lena picked up her fork and held it over the first fluffy pancake, then hesitated. The hunger from before had dissipated, and the idea of putting any food in her stomach absolutely revolted her. Luckily, Ruby didn’t notice this, and was already diving into the special Saturday breakfast.

Sam, however, did.

“Lena, you okay?” Ruby stopped eating and looked to her aunt, concerned.

“Yes, of course,” Lena replied automatically. She stood up. “I’m just not very hungry, that’s all.”

Sam circled the island and, as she had for Ruby many times, placed the back of her hand on Lena’s forehead. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Yeah, fine,” Lena insisted. “Thank you for letting me stay, but I really should be heading home. I should go to the office today.” She turned towards the door, but Sam caught her forearm.

“Lena, it’s Saturday.” She narrowed her eyes and stared intently at her boss. “Are you _sure_ you’re okay?”

Lena nodded. Three moments of silence later, Sam released her. “You’re welcome here anytime, Lena.”

“Thank you,” Lena said sincerely. “I should be off, though.”

Ruby jumped up to give her aunt one last hug. “Bye, Aunt Lena.” Lena automatically returned the embrace, her hand gently stroking Ruby’s hair, then kissing it softly.

“See you soon, love.” They broke the embrace, and Sam returned to hug Lena herself. “I’ll return the clothes,” Lena muttered, clumsily realizing she was still wearing Sam’s outfit.

Sam shrugged. “Keep them, I don’t really care. I have like eight of those shirts and at least three other pairs of black sweats. I’ll manage,” she said lightly.

Lena, with a final look to her friend and honorary niece, left the Arias household and called Terrance to come pick her up.

She had work to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's still technically Friday...

**Author's Note:**

> Hopefully someone is actually reading this, that'd be pretty cool.  
> Most of the story will be from Lena's POV, even if it starts with Sam's.  
> I hope you all enjoy and stick around.  
> Updates will be on Fridays.


End file.
